Timothy Alger Attorney

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About Tim

Timothy L. Alger focuses his California litigation practice on intellectual property, business, entertainment and free speech litigation. 

For more than 30 years, Tim has represented entrepreneurs and many prominent internet, financial and media companies in California trial and appellate courts against claims for breach of contract, fraud, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, trademark and copyright infringement, defamation, and unfair business practices. His work has ranged from complex, multi-defendant class actions to commercial disputes, and litigation over subpoenas and public access to government proceedings and records.

Tim is based in Southern California, but has a statewide litigation practice and appears in federal courts nationwide.

In addition to his California litigation practice, Tim also represents cannabis businesses in civil litigation and in regulatory disputes with government agencies relating to licensing, and assists clients with protecting cannabis-related trade secrets and trademarks.

Experienced California Litigator

Timothy has successfully defended companies in recent disputes over corporate acquisitions, business relationships, and financial issues. From 2008 to 2011, Tim served as Deputy General Counsel at Google, where he supervised its Litigation, Employment and Trademark groups. His teams managed all of the company’s patent, copyright, trademark, privacy, employment, and commercial litigation matters before United States courts and arbitration bodies, and many international disputes.

Tim is a frequent speaker on cannabis intellectual property issues, commercial speech, online intermediary liability, publicity and privacy rights, and defamation.

When not assisting his clients, Tim enjoys scuba diving in the South Pacific with his wife, Catherine, and fly fishing. He regularly volunteers at the Horse Project a Southern California shelter that rescues and rehabilitates abused and neglected horses.

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Fast Facts

Education

  • Loyola Law School, magna cum laude, (J.D.)
  • University of Colorado, (M.A.)
  • Seton Hall University, magna cum laude, (B.A.)

Bar & Court Admissions

  • California State Bar
  • International Cannabis Bar Association
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • San Francisco Bar Association
  • Santa Barbara County Bar Association
  • Ventura County Bar Association
  • Beverly Hills Bar Association

More About Tim

  • Garcia v. Google Inc. and YouTube LLC, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; U.S. District Court for the Central District of California:  Defeated motion by actress seeking an injunction requiring removal of “Innocence of Muslims” movie trailer from YouTube and other Google platforms, which was affirmed, en banc, by the Ninth Circuit.  The en banc court vacated an earlier decision by a Ninth Circuit panel reversing the district court’s denial of the motion, which resulted in removal of of the trailer for more than a year. Action dismissed by plaintiff after remand.  786 F.3d 733 (9th Cir. 2015) (en banc).
  • Concept Chaser Co., Inc. v. Pentel of America, Ltd., California Court of Appeal; Los Angeles Superior Court: Obtained the reversal of a $14.6 million jury verdict against Pentel of America, Ltd. While represented by other counsel, Pentel lost a jury trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court in which the plaintiff, an advertising agency, alleged breach of contract and fraud and was awarded over $32 million. After being retained in the case, Tim prevailed in post-trial motions eliminating $18 million in fraud damages and, in the California Court of Appeal, won reversal of the remainder of the judgment, reversal of a $1.5 million attorney fee award, and a new trial. Case subsequently settled on favorable terms. No. B241929 (California Court of Appeals. May 27, 2014).
  • RIPL Corp. v. Google Inc., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (2014): Obtained summary judgment for Google in a reverse confusion trademark lawsuit asserting that the “Ripples” reporting feature, showing public re-postings in the Google+ service, infringed the registered mark of a developer of social network software. Motion granted on both abandonment and likelihood of confusion grounds.
  • Sanmedica International v. Amazon.com, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah: Obtained summary judgment for Amazon limiting damages on claims under the Lanham Act and state deceptive advertising law, relating to search page advertising for plaintiff’s product, which had been banned from the Amazon marketplace. Settled on terms favorable to the client.
  • In re Facebook:  U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California: Obtained ruling quashing subpoena for communications relating to the account of a deceased user. The court held that Facebook could not be compelled as a nonparty to civil litigation to produce communications content under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). 923 F. Supp. 2d 1204 (N.D. Cal. 2013).
  • Negro v. Superior Court, California Court of Appeal, Sixth District; Santa Clara County Superior Court: Represented Google in challenging a court order requiring disclosure of a user’s email account in civil litigation, where the user refused to consent, on the rationale that the user’s noncooperation with discovery could be viewed as implied consent. The California Court of Appeal vacated the order under ECPA and ordered disclosure only pursuant to express consent by the user. 230 Cal. App. 4th 879, 179 Cal. Rptr. 3d 215 (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).
  • Jancik v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2015): Defended Redbox against disability discrimination and false representation claims relating to captions for the hearing impaired on movie DVDs distributed at retail store kiosks. Motion to dismiss granted on all claims asserting that Redbox may include in its rental inventory only closed-captioned films.
  • Summit Media LLC v. City Of Los Angeles, California Court of Appeal, Second District; Los Angeles Superior Court: Obtained writ of mandate invalidating an illegal agreement between the City of Los Angeles and CBS Outdoor Inc. and Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. allowing the conversion of billboards into digital displays despite a citywide ban on new and altered off-site advertising signs. After an appeal by CBS and Clear Channel, the state Court of Appeal affirmed the writ and ordered revocation of all digital conversion permits—resulting in court orders turning off 100 digital billboards throughout Los Angeles. 211 Cal. App. 4th 921, 150 Cal. Rptr. 3d 574 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012).
  • Soka University of America v. Shogakukan, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court for the Central District of California:  Won anti-SLAPP motion dismissing defamation lawsuit asserting that Japanese magazine falsely reported plaintiff university lacked government approval.  In a case complicated by disputes over editorial choice of Japanese words to describe the uniquely American college accreditation process, the district court found that magazine publisher and its reporter lacked constitutional actual malice.  The court also ordered plaintiff to pay defendants nearly $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, a record anti-SLAPP award.  Affirmed by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  279 Fed. Appx. 553 (9th Cir. 2008).

 

  • First Amendment Coalition (member of the Board of Directors)
  • Media Law Resource Center
  • Southern California Mediation Association
  • California Cannabis Industry Association
  • National Cannabis Industry Association
  • International Cannabis Bar Association
  • California NORML
  • OC NORML
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Proven Successes with Challenging Litigation

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